Best and Brightest 2009 uweek.org
 



UW AWARDS 2009 HOMEPAGE

UWEEK.ORG HOMEPAGE

DISTINGUISHED TEACHING AWARD
Gino Aisenberg, School of Social Work
Steven Herbert, Geography
Janice Laakso, Social Work Program, UW Tacoma
Peter Littig, Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, UW Bothell
Dolphine Oda, School of Dentistry
Catrin Pittack, Biological Structure
John Webster, English

EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING AWARD
Ed Chang, English
Sachi Schmidt-Hori, Asian Languages & Literature

DISTINGUISHED LIBRARIAN AWARD
Mary Whisner, School of Law

DISTINGUISHED STAFF AWARD
Alex Danilchik, School of Drama
Cynthia Anderson, Comparative History of Ideas
Laura Davenport, Aerospace Studies, Air Force ROTC
MarDee Schaefer, Anethesiology & Pain Medicine
Linda Lawson and Alejandro Moreno, Harborview Psychiatry Clinic

DISTINGUISHED CONTRIBUTIONS TO LIFELONG LEARNING AWARD
Oleta Beard, Foster School of Business

OUTSTANDING PUBLIC SERVICE AWARD
Richard Ladner, Computer Science & Engineering

JAMES D. CLOWES AWARD FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING COMMUNITIES
Tetsuden Kashima, American Ethnic Studies

S. STERLING MUNRO PUBLIC SERVICE TEACHING AWARD
Kern Ewing, College of Forest Resources

DAVID B. THORUD LEADERSHIP AWARD
Cindy Atman, College of Engineering
Jill McKinstry, Odegaard Undergraduate Library

MARSHA L. LANDOLT DISTINGUISHED GRADUATE MENTOR AWARD
Richard Strathmann, Friday Harbor Labs

ALUMNUS SUMMA LAUDE DIGNATUS
Wayne Quinton, Bioengineer

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD
Kay Larson, Volunteer

PRESIDENT'S MEDAL
Pavan Vaswani
Laura Hinton

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Photo by Mary Levin




Pavan Vaswani

Pavan Vaswani has been selected as a President's Medalist for the Class of 2009. The selection is made based on overall academic achievement but is not limited to grade point average.

Vaswani is majoring in computer science, neurobiology and biochemistry. His decision to come to the UW was heavily influenced by the assurance that he could become involved in research the day that he arrived on campus. Indeed, his experience working with faculty in a research setting caused him to broaden his degree ambitions, which had begun with computer science.

Vaswani is a Goldwater Scholar, a Mary Gates Scholar and a Washington Scholar. He also has received the Research Fellowship for Advanced Undergraduates and is a Space Grant Scholar. He is currently working in a laboratory in the Department of Neurological Surgery, where he is developing a device to measure brain pressure non-invasively using ultrasound.

After completing his undergraduate degree, Vaswani plans to attend The Johns Hopkins University, in an M.D.-Ph.D. program. He is ultimately planning a career in medical research.

He says doing research has provided his most memorable experiences at the UW.

"Conducting research has allowed me to find and explore what I love doing: to hone my skills and sharpen my understanding of all that medical research involves; to apply the knowledge I am gaining in my classes, giving my lectures perspective, depth, and import; and finally to meet and work alongside doctors and researchers who are experts in their fields, learning from their wisdom and perspective."